Parrot – Gigaomhttp://gigaom.com
The industry leader in emerging technology researchThu, 17 Aug 2017 12:00:16 +0000en-UShourly1Why buy a drone when this $30 Bluetooth chip can make your paper airplane fly?http://gigaom.com/2014/01/24/why-buy-a-drone-when-this-30-bluetooth-chip-can-make-your-paper-airplane-fly/
http://gigaom.com/2014/01/24/why-buy-a-drone-when-this-30-bluetooth-chip-can-make-your-paper-airplane-fly/#commentsFri, 24 Jan 2014 21:48:51 +0000http://gigaom.com/?p=805344I loved flying the Parrot AR Drone with my iPhone(s aapl) or iPad Air. I didn’t love the $299 price tag, although I’ll admit, it’s probably worth it since it’s so much fun. A remote flying machine doesn’t have to cost that much though, and clearly there’s demand for low-cost alternatives. The latest, PowerUp 3.0, is about to finish up its Kickstarter funding where it flew past its $50,000 goal with nearly $1.2 million raised.

What is PowerUp 3.0? It’s a small Bluetooth Smart module with propeller attached to a lightweight frame. Think of it as a smart flying skeleton that needs one more thing: A paper airplane that you provide. For as low as a $30 pledge and all the paper you provide, you can fly around the town from your iPhone or Android device.

To be fair, a $30 module that works with paper airplanes won’t compete with a $300 drone in many ways. It’s a low-cost way to have a fun experience, however, and it illustrates how versatile little radio chips can be. With Bluetooth Smart, range is limited to around 55 meters; my Parrot uses Wi-Fi and has a broader range. But both fly for roughly the same time on a single charge: About 10 minutes. That’s pretty amazing considering the Parrot battery is the size of a laptop charging brick while the PowerUp 3.0 module is the size of a U.S. quarter-dollar coin.

Since the PowerUp 3.0 blew though funding goals, most of the stretch goals were met as well. These include support for Android devices, controlling multiple paper airplanes from one phone, and a dogfight game mode. It’s unlikely the project will hit its $2 million stretch goal at this point; that would have added a camera mount for your paper airplane.

Funding for the PowerUp 3.0 ends tomorrow — Saturday, January 25 at 9:59 am EST — so if you’ve always wanted to get more flight time from your paper airplane creations, now’s the time to make your pledge.

]]>http://gigaom.com/2014/01/24/why-buy-a-drone-when-this-30-bluetooth-chip-can-make-your-paper-airplane-fly/feed/2Automotive Market to Fuel Apps and App Storeshttp://gigaom.com/2009/10/12/automotive-market-to-fuel-apps-and-app-stores/
http://gigaom.com/2009/10/12/automotive-market-to-fuel-apps-and-app-stores/#commentsMon, 12 Oct 2009 21:14:58 +0000http://gigaom.com/?p=74245The automotive industry is fertile soil for the kind of apps that have revolutionized the mobile space over the last year, according to a report released today from iSuppli. The appeal of in-car applications is easy to see. Drivers could use such offerings for navigation purposes and location-aware services, while passengers could pass the time with casual games or other entertainment genres. And as we become increasingly connected, we’re likely to see a host of other gadgets and platforms embrace such models, from TVs to dedicated portable music players and gaming devices.

A handful of companies showcased auto-application initiatives at last month’s Frankfurt Motor Show in Germany: BMW demonstrated a new app store that delivers offerings directly to the vehicle or via a PC; Nokia unveiled a solution that integrates a smartphone with the car’s in-dash computer systems; and Parrot is developing an Android-based device that offers “automotive implementation of all smartphone features.”

But I think the key to success in the era of the app store will be interoperability. Consumers won’t want to establish accounts at multiple app stores and shop at device-specific outlets every time they want to check out the latest offerings, which is why I think Nokia (s nok) and Parrot have the right idea — and why BMW is moving down the wrong path with its own branded app store. The smartphone won’t necessarily have to serve as the hub of any scenario where consumers use apps across a bunch of different devices, but it should serve as a kind of vehicle for apps, enabling users to access them from multiple platforms in different ways. BMW would be wise to partner with a mobile player — or at least a player like Amazon or Facebook looking to enter the app-store space — as applications move well beyond smartphones.